Happy, snowy January- lots of photos!

Cousins being serious (taken while Z and I went down South)

Zach playing with cousin Ava

Brotherly cuddles (NOT a headlock!)

O's new-found interest in paint... one of my many cars!

Two big boys!

Building a house for his sheep, Baa Baa

The view from our front door

Oliver trying to catch some snow in the garden

Oliver spinner Zach around and around in the door bouncer

Oliver sledging to Toddler group in the village :)

Duvet and blanket den

Road outside our house

Hello, here is a mumble jumble of snowy and indoor photos. Ta-da!! :)

Happy January

We are moving quickly through this month!!

Here are my boys in the village, looking for the cows.

More photos to follow, but they keep uploading all funny :(

Nanna in Cornwall

At the weekend my Nanna in Cornwall passed away.

She was nearly 82 and had been battling cancer for quite a long time, so at the end it was a relief. I am happy that I believe she will now be at rest and not in any more pain, and that she will be reunited with her son. My Uncle Richard died before I was born, so that was something she talked about before she went, and something I have been thinking of frequently since her passing.

June 2011, around their Diamond Wedding Anniversary

July 2012, when they met us in the Lake District and met Zach

I am thankful that I last saw her when she looked well. I am looking forward to the funeral next week with the understanding that we will see her again one day, and that she is just out of sight for now.

Here is a beautiful poem that I read this week:

I am standing by the seashore.
A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze
and starts for the blue ocean.
She is an object of beauty and strength,
and I stand and watch
until at last she hangs like a speck of white cloud
just where the sun and sky come down to mingle with each other.

Then someone at my side says, 'There she goes!
Gone where? Gone from my sight - that is all.
She is just as large in mast and hull and spar
as she was when she left my side
and just as able to bear her load of living freight
to the places of destination.
Her diminished size is in me, not in her.

And just at the moment when someone at my side says,
'There she goes! ' ,
there are other eyes watching her coming,
and other voices ready to take up the glad shout :
'Here she comes!'

My Boxing Day Nippy Dip!

This morning I did my Nippy Dip at Aberdeen beach (finally!) Amazingly, the temperature was just about positive (1 or 2 degrees I think) and the sun was shining so that was an encouraging start!

My initial thought when I got to the check-in/registration desks over the road at the leisure centre was, "Uh oh, nearly everyone is in fancy dress and looks cooler than me" and then it was "I'm wearing less clothes than most people"!!! So I will know that for next year...

We were led out from the Beach leisure centre by a bagpiper!

Warm and dry celebrating afterwards, phew!

I raised £458 for Lyme Disease Action, thank you all who donated and supported me!! If you want you can still donate until January here: https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/twiggernippydipper

Christmas!

This year we are spending Christmas up here in Aberdeen, just the four of us. We feel very grown-up, and so far we haven't forgotten anything important like the cranberry sauce, yorkshire puds or cheese and crackers. Phew!

So far the family fun has consisted of:

- a visit to THE best Grotto in the world, at BA Country Stores. It was decked out in a huge, moving winter wonderland and Santa's workshop, with bits of trucks being assembled travelling over our heads and on conveyor belts... oh wow. Then Father Christmas spent so long with us, and reeled Oliver nicely in with a haribo sweet. Brilliant!!

- a cinema trip to see 'Brave' (great!!) which only costed £2.70, AND the boys were very good throughout- followed by a trip to McDonalds!! We both hadn't been for sooo long and we bought Oliver his first Happy Meal...! The chips went down a storm.

- lots of Christmassy baking

- Ben being poorly so we all snuggled in bed to cheer him up

- we made a gingerbread ruin!!! (the 'roof' is made of strawberry laces... we ran out of icing sugar to stick the real roof on!)

- more Christmassy baking- this is Ben and Oliver making mince pies together. So lovely

- before bed on Christmas Eve, the boys acting out all the parts in the Nativity

- leaving out a home-made mince pie for Santa and a carrot for the Reindeer. Oliver didn't think S.C. would need a drink, instead he was adamant for us to leave the mince pie in the cup

- Christmas day lunch!

- My husband looking especially handsome in his new jumper

... and it's only Boxing day!! More excitement when Ben's brother and sister come to visit at the weekend, yippee!

Goals for 2013!

Hooray, even better than reviewing and realising you've met your goals is MAKING goals... (am I alone on this one?? I LOVE goals...)

Goals for 2013

Me:

• Lose a further ½ stone and maintain it... GOAL: * st 12lb! :)
• Work up to teach two hours of music classes/lessons per week (currently one hour a week)
• Invite more people over... become a better hostess!
• Exercise twice a week (20 mins+)
• 30 minutes (genuinely timed!) church time every day (be it reading the Bible, Book of Mormon, teaching Oliver a story, reading the church magazine or Sunday school reading... I just need to do MORE!)
• Play the piano at church once a month

Family:

• Work hard to put Ben and his needs (and lots of wants)  first- every day! (this is probably the secret- if I put him first, and he puts me first then we will both be exquisitely happy and have an amazing marriage :D)
• Set aside uninterrupted time with the boys of play/read/learn, totally away from jobs around the house or anything else... at least one hour a day!
• Skype my family twice a month
• Buy a house!

Goal Review 2012

Last December I wrote my goals for this year- 2012. I think it's good to review them at the end of the year before I make ones for next year... some went well, some totally rubbish. Good to see that I've improved though!

Goal Review for 2012

Personal:

- Finish Oliver's Quiet book... not even touched it! (good start!)
- Join something musical and do at least one concert... This year I began teaching again, absolutely LOVED IT! Two beginners and one grade 5ish. Also organised and now running Tiddley-Pom (since February... quite successful!)
- Learn 12 hymns on the piano from the children's songbook (one a month)... Not worked on until September, when we got a piano!! Since then I play most days and can play at least 12 songs, wahoooo! :) Piano books are on my Christmas list :)
- Have another baby and be sane :)... I did it, and yes, I am at pretty much the same sanity level I always was! :)

Physical:
- Lose baby weight plus an extra 3lb by Christmas 2012... DONE!! I put a lot on... but then I lost the lot, plus an extra 5.5lb!! Woooo :)
- Begin colouring hair and make a concerted effort with doing something with it! … well, I'm colouring it every few months and quite pleased with it, but confess that I leave the roots quiteeee a while...

Spiritual:
- Read every Ensign cover to cover (The 'Ensign' is our church magazine)... I was doing so well at this one... until about October-time. Now I flick through but don't read the whole thing :( Will improve.
- Do Sunday school weekly readings before each Sunday lesson... hooray! We ended up being ahead! :)

Familial:
- Do something messy/arty with Oliver at least twice a week... started this twice week... now more like once a week, but it happens!
- Initiate more kisses! (Ben likes them and I forget to give them!!) Still not great at this. Will probably be on my goal list again in 2013...
- Go out on a date with Ben twice a month- get a babysitter and organise one each per month... again, started so well, but since Zach was born it hasn't been great. Something to do more of next year!
- Sort out Oliver's nap schedule... it's rubbish AGAIN! … we have come full circle on this one. I sorted it... and now it is rubbish again! I think he's managed one nap in the last month. Uhhh.

Zach, 17th May 2012

Ta-da! I feel quite good looking back on this year, it has been a good one.